Cabinet to discuss contracts for rough sleeping prevention work

Hastings Borough Council’s Cabinet is due to discuss new contracts for rough sleeping prevention contracts. 

The council intends to commission services to support our ongoing priority to prevent homelessness and end rough sleeping. 

Hastings leads the Rough Sleeper Prevention and Recovery Programme (RSPaR) on behalf of the five local housing authorities in East Sussex. The programme is funded by a grant from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The aim of the programme is to prevent and end rough sleeping by ensuing that people who are at risk or who are forced to rough sleep have access to holistic support and temporary and longer-term accommodation options which are tailored to meet their needs. 

Government funding for this work was changed in December 2025, and combined into a single Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant. Grant allocations have been made over a three-year period until March 2029. 

Work to reduce rough sleeping in Hastings has seen a reduction in new people forced into rough sleeping – this has reduced from 258 individuals in 2024 to 160 in 2025. 

Cllr Glenn Haffenden, leader of the council and lead councillor for housing, said: “Our housing team and our partners are doing excellent work to reduce rough sleeping and it has been recognised as good practice nationally.  We are committed to working with all rough sleepers to offer them housing solutions that work for them but due to complex situations, a move indoors is not always possible to achieve quickly. It takes time to build trust and find the right housing solution for people, especially when they haven’t had a settled home for many years.  

“Through these contracts and our own teams, we will continue to work compassionately but assertively to achieve our aim of ending rough sleeping in Hastings. We know that to achieve this we must resolve the underlying reason for someone’s homelessness not simply move the issue out of sight.” 

The Cabinet report details proposals to contract Southdown Housing Association Limited to deliver HBC Street Outreach and Move On Support Contract (Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Programme from 1 April 2026 for two years with an option to extend by another year. 

The report also recommends a procurement exercise to commission supported accommodation (Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Programme) for people with a history of rough sleeping and the continuation of co-located homelessness prevention roles within the existing strategic partnership for housing-related floating support. This support is provided through Brighton Housing Trust (BHT) Sussex through a contract with East Sussex County Council.  

The council is working with colleagues across public health and health and social care to increase capacity for multi-disciplinary working, building on the base created by the RSPaR programme. A specialist multi-disciplinary team has been co-commissioned and co-funded by the partners, which will also include a dedicated peer support team. 

You can read the full report online, and you can attend the meeting in person at Muriel Matters House from 5.45pm on Wednesday 25 March, or watch online.